Art Libraries Society of
Session 24: The Image Down Under: Collaborative Ventures in the Visual Arts,
Architecture and Music in
Moderator:
Joye Volker, The
Speakers:
Margaret
Shaw, Chief Librarian, National Gallery of
Catherine
Hammond, Research Librarian,
Jane
Wild, Library Manager for Engineering, Architecture and Fine Arts,
Joye
Volker, Librarian, National Institute of the Arts, The
Recorder:
Eila Rämö,
The opportunities and synergies provided by
digital technology and the web environment in developing sustainable access to
resources in the visual arts, architecture and music in
Margaret Shaw (Title: Online
images in
Australian Prints covers 11,000 artists, printers and publishers. 30,000 images have been
digitized with 20,000 already on the web. The database recorded over 1 million
pages visited in 2003!
Australian Pictorial Thesaurus was launched in 2001 as the recommended national thesaurus for the
indexing of Australian “images and other original material collections in
Australian libraries, archives and museums”. APT is free, web-based service
using single words or brief phrases rather than string headings and anyone may
suggest new headings.
In 2003 the APT included 15,000 headings
and the web-site was receiving 35,000 hits per month.
Picture Australia, launched in 2000, includes images from 34 institutions which can be cross-searched.
It is not limited to the fine arts but includes many photographic collections
which document
Picture
In the end of her paper Margaret also
mentioned a future plan to form a national gateway or portal for the visual
arts in
ARLIS/ANZ http://arlisanz.anu.edu.au/index.htm
Kinetica http://www.nla.gov.au/kinetica/
Australian
Prints http://www.australianprints.gov.au/
Australian
Pictorial Thesaurus http://www.picturethesaurus.gov.au/
Picture
Imageline http://ifla.org/VII/s30/pub/imageline_report.pdf
The second speaker, Catherine Hammond, could unfortunately not be present so Jane
Wild kindly read her paper (Title: Negotiated
settlements: indigenous permissions and online image collections in
The
A key benefit of digitisation has been broadening the access to the Gallery's
publicly-funded collections through its own website and by contributing to
collaborative image banks. Catherine also pointed out in her paper that a
history of cultural appropriation has meant that many Maori have concerns about
making images of their ancestors available online. Finding a balance between
access to and protection of these images has involved an ongoing process of
consultation and negotiation with descendants.
In her own paper - rich in images - Jane Wild (Title: Degrees of
Separation: images in architecture and design archives in New Zealand) told us about The
University of Auckland Architecture Archive and how it has developed a web
profile to assist researchers who are geographically remote from Auckland, New
Zealand. Working in partnership with the
Jane described the process of collecting
material and information for the exhibition. The opportunity to exhibit allowed
for an expanded image search through the local archives. Including the
opportunity to read Lippincott´s own correspondence in the University Archives
and the opportunity to surf through new photographic image banks.
Jane also told us that publicity about the
exhibition brought discoveries of “saved” furniture. Chairs, desks and tables
have been rescued from destruction but normally varnished out of recognition.
Jane ended up her presentation by stating
that technology may enable the global search, but it is necessary to examine
the local in detail before it becomes distorted through degrees of separation.
Research patterns are still influenced by traditional expectations which are
influenced in turn by gaps in cataloguing and description, she added.
National Library of New Zealand-Timeframes http://timeframes1.natlib.govt.nz
Architecture Library http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/arc/archome.htm
Fine Arts Library http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/art/fahome.htm
http://www.akcity.govt.nz/dbtwwpd/heritageimages/apphoto.htm
Auckland
Art Gallery Toi O Tamaki http://www.aucklandartgallery.govt.nz/collection/introduction/default.asp
The fourth
speaker was the session moderator Joye Volker (Title: Waltzing
Matilda: breaking down the barriers in online music and dance).
In her lively presentation, which of course included music –
unfortunately not dancing – Joye introduced us both
Australia Dancing was released in
2003 and it aims to make Australian dance materials accessible to local,
national and international communities and to build the Australian Dance
Collection. It is an initiative of National Library of Australia in partnership
with key collecting institutions and the peak industry and advocacy body for
dance in
Australia Dancing creates metadata describing dance resources and
dancers, choreographers and companies. The National Library hosts
MusicAustralia is a cooperative web based service providing access to
Contributors to MusicAustralia include
libraries, archives and tertiary institutions. Users are able to access thousands of Australian scores and
hundreds of Australian performance recordings online, and can compare and
contrast multiple scores and recordings - even those held by different
institutions or sectors - relating to individual music works.
The goal of both Australia Dancing and
MusicAustralia is seamless access to the
Joye´s presentation wasn´t “only”
audiovisual, we could also feel
URLs
National Library of Australia http://www.nla.gov.au/
Music
Ausdance http://www.ausdance.org.au/outside/interest/interest.html
Screensound